Joe's Reaction of the Week: The Calm Before The Storm
The Olympics offer a brief distraction, but back in New York the real pressure is mounting as Drury prepares for trades that could redefine the Rangers’ direction.
Today, J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Mike Sullivan, and Chris Drury are 48 hours removed from a Quinn Hughes overtime winner that sent Mika Zibanejad and Team Sweden home in the Olympics.
In just a few hours, that same group will face off against Slovakia for a chance to play for the gold medal.
Exactly two weeks from the start time of the game later this afternoon is the NHL trade deadline.
I have already done deep dives on the players I think the Rangers will be shipping out, and what I think the return for those players can be. (Ignore the Artemi Panarin part.)
The biggest name on the block, Vincent Trocheck, is almost assuredly traded by that deadline (if not before) and I have already drawn my line in the sand with Chris Drury over this.
As of right now, it appears to be all but a sure thing Trocheck will be joining Mr. Hughes and the Minnesota Wild soon enough. A question came up about this on the podcast this week, where Eric and I examined this. Eric made the point that trades aren't meant to be won and lost, and that generally speaking both sides should walk away feeling like they won. I fundamentally agree with this. The problem, in this case, is that Trocheck is sort of only rumored to be going to the Wild at this point—and for the biggest (bar none) trade chip on the block, that's seriously concerning.
While I don't think Drury is simply looking to trade with his best friend in Bill Guerin, I do have concerns that his love for Charlie Stramel—who would have been a Ranger draft selection over Gabe Perreault if Guerin did not intervene on the draft floor—is blinding him to other possibilities. For me, a "successful" trade with Minnesota really revolves around prying Danila Yurov from the Wild, a player they reportedly refused to make available for Hughes. Make of that what you will.
